How to Preach on Forgiveness: A Guide for Pastors

Forgiveness is one of the most searched-for sermon topics in the world — and one of the hardest to preach. It's hard because the people sitting in front of you are at very different places with it. Some have been deeply wounded and are being told, too quickly, to let it go. Others are carrying the weight of their own guilt and can't seem to receive the forgiveness God freely offers. Some are stuck in a cycle of bitterness. Some have already forgiven and need to be encouraged to keep walking in it.

If you preach forgiveness as a flat command — "just forgive, the Bible says so" — you'll wound the wounded and empower the proud. If you preach it as a vague sentiment, you'll offer comfort without substance. The task is to preach the whole counsel of God on forgiveness: honest about the cost, grounded in the cross, and clear about what forgiveness is and isn't.

Here's a practical guide to preaching on forgiveness in a way that lands.

Start with the character of God

Before you ever call people to forgive, show them the God who forgives. Human forgiveness is a response to divine forgiveness — it flows downstream from the cross. When you start with God's character, you give people the resources to do what would otherwise be impossible.

Key passages for God as the forgiver:

• Psalm 103:8-12 — "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide... as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us." This is one of the clearest pictures of God's forgiving heart in the Old Testament.
• Isaiah 43:25 — "I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." God forgives because of who He is, not because we earned it.
• Ephesians 1:7 — "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace."
• 1 John 1:9 — "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The point of anchoring here isn't to make people feel guilty for struggling to forgive. It's to give them a foundation. We forgive because we have been forgiven (Ephesians 4:32). The cross is the engine of Christian forgiveness.

Be clear about what forgiveness is — and isn't

This may be the most important practical move in your sermon. Most of the confusion and pain around forgiveness comes from unbiblical definitions. People carry enormous guilt because they think they haven't "really" forgiven someone when they still feel hurt, or they think forgiving means trusting the person who hurt them.

Name these clearly from the pulpit:

Forgiveness is:

• Releasing the debt. Forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling. It's choosing not to make the offender pay — releasing your right to revenge into God's hands (Romans 12:19).
• A process, often a long one. You may have to forgive the same wound many times. The feeling of hurt fading doesn't mean you failed; it means the forgiveness is working.
• Possible because of Christ. We don't muster forgiveness from willpower. We receive the resources to forgive from the Spirit at work in us.

Forgiveness is not:

• Excusing the sin. Forgiveness doesn't say "it wasn't a big deal." It says "it was a big deal, and I'm releasing it to God."
• Forgetting. Amnesia isn't forgiveness. Forgiveness remembers and chooses to release anyway.
• Reconciliation. You can forgive someone you can never safely be in relationship with again. Forgiveness can happen in your heart before God; reconciliation requires the offender's repentance and changed behavior.
• Restoring trust. Trust is rebuilt over time through evidence. Forgiveness is given freely; trust is earned. A spouse who forgives an unfaithful partner is not obligated to pretend it never happened.
• Staying in an unsafe situation. Forgiveness does not mean remaining in abuse. A wife can forgive her husband and still call the police. Forgiveness and wisdom are not enemies.

When you make these distinctions clear, you free people. The wounded person who has been told "forgive and go back" hears that God doesn't require that. The person paralyzed by guilt over lingering hurt hears that feelings don't define whether they've forgiven.

Preach the hard texts honestly

Two passages come up constantly when people search for sermons on forgiveness, and both need careful handling.

Matthew 18:21-35 — The unforgiving servant

Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive — "up to seven times?" Jesus answers "seventy-seven times" (or seventy times seven) and tells a parable about a servant forgiven an impossible debt who then refuses to forgive a fellow servant a small one.

The point is not a math problem. The point is that the gap between what God has forgiven us and what we're asked to forgive others is astronomical. When we grasp how much we've been forgiven, the absurdity of withholding forgiveness becomes clear.

Preach this carefully. Don't use it to shame people who are struggling. Use it to lift their eyes to the cross. The servant's problem wasn't that he didn't try hard enough — it was that he'd forgotten what he'd been given. The remedy for an unforgiving heart is not more effort; it's a deeper grasp of grace.

Luke 23:34 — "Father, forgive them"

Jesus, dying, asks the Father to forgive His executioners. This is the summit of forgiveness in Scripture. If Jesus can forgive in the act of being murdered, what does that say about the power available to us?

But preach it honestly: Jesus's forgiveness from the cross didn't mean the soldiers walked away reconciled to Him. It meant the door was open. Don't push this text further than it goes.

Address the practical reality

People need more than theology — they need help. A good sermon on forgiveness moves from truth to practice. Here are concrete steps to offer your congregation:

1. Name the wound honestly before God. You can't forgive what you won't acknowledge. Tell God exactly what was done to you and how it hurt. The Psalms model this — raw, honest lament (Psalm 13, Psalm 55).
2. Release the right to revenge. Forgiveness is handing the scales to God. "Lord, this is Yours. I trust You to deal justly. I let go of my right to make them pay."
3. Pray for the one who hurt you. Jesus said to pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). This is not about feeling warm toward them — it's about releasing your grip. You may have to pray through clenched teeth at first. That's okay. Keep praying.
4. Grieve. Forgiveness doesn't skip grief. Some things you forgive were genuine losses. Name them. Mourn them. Let the comfort of Christ meet you there (Matthew 5:4).
5. Get help when you're stuck. If you can't move toward forgiveness because the wound is so deep, that's not a failure of faith — it's a signal to get help. A wise counselor, a trusted pastor, a season of care. Forgiveness is a community project, not a solo performance.
6. Keep doing it. Some wounds resurface. When the bitterness comes back, you forgive again. Jesus said seventy-seven times — not because He's counting, but because forgiveness is a way of life, not a one-time event.

Don't forget the other side

Many sermons on forgiveness only address those who need to forgive. But a significant portion of your congregation is carrying guilt — they're the ones who did the wounding, and they can't seem to receive God's forgiveness.

Preach to them too. Remind them:

• 1 John 1:9 is a promise, not a maybe. If you confess, He forgives. Period.
• Romans 8:1 — "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." If you keep feeling condemned after repentance, that voice is not the Holy Spirit.
• Isaiah 55:7 — "Let the wicked forsake his way... let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
• Refusing to receive God's forgiveness is its own kind of pride — it says the cross wasn't enough. It was.

A warning for the preacher

It's tempting to make your forgiveness sermon a sweeping emotional appeal. Resist that. The people who have been most hurt need you to slow down, not speed up. They need you to tell the truth slowly. They need to know God sees the cost of what they're being asked to do.

And be honest about your own need for forgiveness. We preach as forgiven forgivers, not as those who have arrived. A sermon on forgiveness delivered by someone who acts like they've never needed it will ring hollow.

A closing promise

Forgiveness is not easy. It may be one of the hardest things Jesus asks of us. But it is also one of the most freeing. Bitterness is a prison we build for ourselves and furnish for the person who hurt us. Forgiveness is the key that lets us out — not because the wrong was small, but because the cross was big enough to cover it.

Preach forgiveness with tenderness and truth. Hold the wounded. Lift up the guilty. And point everyone, again and again, to the God who forgives us first, forgives us fully, and gives us the grace to extend what we've received.

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